Matsumoto Castle

Between Matsumoto and Takayama

We stopped in Takayama to eat lunch, see the old town and visit Takayama Jinya, the old local government office.

Hoba miso cooked at our table on a magnolia leaf

Takayama

Takayama Jinya

Shoveling snow off the roof

Next stop was the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama. We stopped at two of the villages in this region, the touristy Ogimachi village, and the remote Ainokura Village where we stayed the night in Goyomon, one of the traditional Gassho-Zukuri farmhouses. The stay was fantastic. We went out to explore the town at sunset and there was nobody else around. Later we were served dinner, including fish (for the non-vegetarians) that had been cooking in the irori (traditional sunken hearth) when we arrived.

This stay made me really appreciate the layout of Japanese buildings (although as demonstrated at Takayama Jinya, they are not the most interesting tourist stop). All four "walls" in almost every room are sliding doors that can be opened to combine rooms into larger rooms. Other than the kitchen and bathroom, no room has a defined purpose - the "dining room" is the room where the cushions and low tables (one per person) are set out to eat on, the "bedroom" is the room where the futons are laid out when it's time to sleep. Other than the temporary furniture in the room, they can be the same room. Note to future visitors - we had been a bit worried that the farmhouse would be freezing at night during winter but they had on quite a few heaters in our rooms so only the bathroom was cold.

Early the next morning we still had the town to ourselves and we went to the two farmhouses turned into museums where you can climb up a ladder to the top floor to view the roof up close. It is made and attached without nails. We also walked a little way up the hill for a view over the village. By this time buses full of tourists had started to arrive so after clearing the snow off our car, we set off.

Ogimachi

Our Mazda 3 the next morning outside Goyomon

Dinner. The fish are still in the irori

Inside the roof of a Gassho-Zukuri farmhouse

Ainokura from the hillside

Next stop was Kenroku-en garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. It was snowing when we arrived and the snow was clinging to the bare branches. A few hours later it had all melted off.

Kenroku-en garden

Just before dropping our car off in Nagoya, we pulled into an unusual fuel station where all the pumps hung from the roof, and, despite having cords hanging off them, the Japanese guy who filled up our car had to climb on the car to reach it.

If only all fuel stations were this entertaining

Beware of snowmen while driving to Nagoya

We then headed out to Nabana no Sato for one of Japan's best light festivals.

Nabana no Sato light festival

What would a light festival be without Mt Fuji

Next morning we went to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology which had two huge pavilions - one dedicated to textiles (how the Toyota company started) and the second dedicated to cars. Both pavilions had many large and noisy machines (e.g. many weaving machines, a machine press to shape the side of the car, car painting machine etc) that would run for 30 seconds or so when you pressed a button nearby.

This is how a transmission works

And this is how the thing that welds the car together works

On our way back to Tokyo I finally got a decent view of Mt Fuji.